The re-invention of Doral: a thriving office and residential real estate market have moved Doral away from its industrial heritage

South Florida CEO, Sept, 2005

In the heart of the fast-changing City of Doral, plumes of dust rise up from the former headquarters for Ryder System Inc., as crews work to demolish the building. In its place, Shoma Development Corp. will build Park Square at Doral, a new high-density town center with retail, office and residential components.

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Less than a mile to the north, the city is planning the "Downtown Doral District," an even larger mixed-use project to be created by long-time developer Armando Codina at the site of Doral Center, one of area's first office building clusters.

Major employers throughout Doral--from the landmark Doral Golf Resort & Spa and the Miami Free Zone to relative newcomers like the Intercontinental Miami West and Carlos Albizu University (CAU)--are renewing themselves as well.

It is all part of the re-invention of Doral, a two-year-old city moving quickly to take charge of its destiny. "Projects like Downtown Doral District will go a long way to creating an identity for our city," says Doral Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez. "It's a very exciting time."

For decades, the Doral area was known as Miami-Dade County's leading industrial market, filled with warehouses and distribution centers shuttling products back and forth from Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami. Today, those gritty warehouses and trucks exist side-by-side with new housing developments and office buildings, banks, upscale restaurants and supermarkets.

"In the 13 years I've been here, I've seen Doral go from being solely an import-export hub to attracting Fortune 500 companies," says Andy Abbate, president of Doral-based Tenbrook Associates Inc. and co-founder of the Doral Business Council, a year-old organization that promotes economic development. "Now, Doral is seeing strong growth in smaller businesses, including retailers and people working from home offices--a reflection of the growth of Doral's residential market."

It is a new texture for the city--and one that brings a host of new challenges: How to place upscale condominiums and townhomes next to a warehouse area; How to build parks, sidewalks and bike paths for residents; How can traffic congestion caused by heavy trucks, daily commuters and residents' vehicles be eased?

Since its incorporation on June 23, 2003, Doral's civic leaders have been wrestling with those questions.

Creating a sense of place

Undoubtedly, the most important changes in Doral's landscape are the result of the city's desire to create a sense of place. Like suburban communities throughout western Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Doral is looking toward mixed-use town center projects to encourage residents to get out of their cars and spend their leisure and entertainment dollars in their own community.

"People are bored with traditional suburban form and unimaginative sprawl," says Masoud Shojaee, president of Doral-based Shoma Development. "The need has intensified for a complete environment where people can work, shop and live, while enhancing their quality of life. I am a true believer that people can have it all."

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Shoma's Park Square at Doral will be a 2 million-square-foot development on the 53-acre site at NW 82nd Avenue south of NW 36th Street. Plans include more than 135,000 square feet of retail space, a 218,000-square-foot, six-story office tower and more than 2,500 townhomes, carriage homes, apartments and lofts. It will feature a pedestrian plaza for art festivals, concerts and other special events, as well as park areas, pedestrian paths and lush landscaping. Real estate broker Cushman & Wake-field Inc. is already handling leasing for the office tower, which is projected to be complete in February 2007.

Just north of the Doral Golf Resort & Spa on NW 53rd Street, Armando Codina, CEO of Coral Gables-based Codina Group Inc., will redevelop part of the 100-acre Doral Center as the city's new "downtown." Codina plans to demolish some of the center's existing office space, and replace it with a variety of residential, retail and office uses.

"Going back to the development of Beacon Centre, Codina Group's real estate roots stem from the evolution of Doral," said Codina in an e-mail interview. "What Doral needs now is a downtown.... With the combination of residential neighborhoods and prominent corporations that have sprung up in the last decade, and given its recent incorporation, Doral offers tremendous potential for development."

Like city officials, Codina hopes that Downtown Doral, similar to other infill developments, will allow the growing community to take better advantage of its existing roadway capacity, and balance traffic patterns.

Fighting Traffic Congestion

Traffic, in fact, is perhaps the biggest concern of Doral residents, businesses and government. Since the 1980s, the area has been the largest warehouse and office submarket in the county. According to commercial real estate brokerage and advisory firm CB Richard Ellis, as of mid-year 2005, the Miami Airport submarket (which includes Doral) made up 34 percent of Miami-Dade's 195 million square feet of industrial space.